December 19, 2015

Conservatives enraged at losing power

The gun mania noted in the previous two postings comes from the white man's perceived loss of power. I've posted about this subject before, but it can't be stated often enough. Here's another take on it:

Right-wing media is lashing out against GOP congressmen after the budget deal, which only helps Trump's chances

By Amanda MarcotteOn this much, Limbaugh and I agree: Trump’s popularity is not due to the man having a unique charisma or some kind of major leadership skills. He’s just a cipher for this inchoate right wing rage. It’s hard to express the magnitude of rage that conservatives feel right now, after 7 years of the Obama presidency.

In their minds, this country belongs to them and any Democratic leadership is therefore, by definition, illegitimate. (Obama’s race isn’t helping things, but it’s important to remember they felt this way about Bill Clinton, too, which led to impeaching him under some flimsy pretense.) They keep sending more Republicans—and more and more conservative Republicans—to Congress with the sole mission to destroy Obama and restore the “natural” order of things, where conservatives, predominantly white male conservatives, rule and everyone else is, at best, given token representation.

Republicans don’t actually have the power to do this, but that hardly matters to the conservative base. When you believe in your heart of hearts that the natural order is people like you on top and everyone else under the boot, it feels like it should be relatively easy to get things back to the way you think they should be. So if it’s not getting done, it must be because of a lack of will. And if you have any doubts that it’s lack of will, here’s Rush Limbaugh, who seems like a smart guy who follows D.C. politics closely, telling you that’s exactly what it is. So they believe him.And:In a sense, Trump didn’t have to do much to exploit this situation. His chest-puffing claims that all he needs to do to get his way is to say what he wants very loudly may make liberals laugh, but it fits right into the fantasy that Limbaugh and his fellow right-wing pundits are spinning out for the conservative base, who is ready to believe it.

Trump’s main talent is saying whatever his audience wants to hear, which he did, by telling Breitbart News that “elected Republicans in Congress threw in the towel.” He probably didn’t even need to know the specifics of what he was talking about, so long as he could imply that all you need is heavier balls and getting your way is a breeze.

There’s no easy way out of this dilemma for the Republicans. The conservative base is completely out of step with the general public on all these major issues. But it’s a minority who believes that their views should be triumphant over the majority’s, and that God agrees with them on this, to boot. Compromise and you lose your base. Give the base what they want and lose everyone else.Comment: For more on Donald Trump, see Trump Promises White Male Rule and "Restoring America's Greatness" = Disneyesque Dream.